Coupling for locomotive-engines and tenders.



APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 13, 1905.

'IINITED STATES PATENT OF ICE;

JAMES MUNTON, OF MAYWOOD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO LATROBE STEEL AND COUPLER COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A (JOR- PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

COUPLING FOR LOCOMOTlVE-ENGINESAND TENDERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

' Application filed October 13. 1905. Serial No. 282,535.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES MUNTON, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing in Maywood, in the county of (look and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Couplers for Locomotive Engines and Tenders, of which the following is a specificavery securely and stronglyanchored in place.

My invention consists in the means I employ to practically accomplish this objector resultthat is to say, it consists in a coupler, prefer: ably of the ordinary Master Car-Builders type, provided with an integral shank furnished with a rounded or partially cylindrical pivothead having convex, concave, or curved upper and lower faces in connection with a socketpiece secured to or forming part of the locomotive or tender frame and provided with a partially round or cylindrical socket having a curved lower or bottom face and receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the'couplershank and furnished with angle stops or shoulders adapted to engage the shank of the coupler to limit the lateral or swinging movement of the coupler and a removable cap-plate having a curved lower face fitting the curved upper face of the pivot-head of the coupler and secured to said socket-piece, and one or more removable filler-plates, each having curved or dished upper and lower faces corresponding to the curved upper and lower faces of the pivot-head of the coupler and of the bottom face of the socket-piece, one or more of which filler-plates may be placed above or below the pivot-head of the coupler, according as the condition of the tires and springs may require, to bring the coupler to the proper level.

My invention also consists in the novel construction ofparts and devices and in the novel combinations of, parts and devices herein shown or described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of a locomotive or tender coupler embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of one of the removable filler-plates.

In the drawings, A represents a coupler of the Master Car-Builders type having the customary forked draw head a and pivoted knuckle a. The coupler A has an integral shank B, furnished with an integral rounded or partially-cylindrical pivot-head B. The pivot-head B has a conical or curved bottom face 6, the same being preferably convex, and a similarly curved or concave top face Z). The pivot-head B also has, preferably, a central openingbf, so that when the outer periphery of the rounded or cylindrical pivot-head becomes worn by use or thesocket inwhich it fits becomes worn the head may be sw'aged out after being heated and thus enlargedfso that it will again properly fit'its surrounding socket. I

D is a socket-piece having an upright flange d and horizontal flange d for attachment to the front sill or framework of the locomotive or tender. This socket-piece D, which is preferably of. cast metal, is furnished with a partially-cylindrical socket D,havinga curved or non-fiat bottom face d adapted to receive and fit the cylindrical pivot-head B of the coupler. The socket-piece D is further 'provided with angle shoulders or flanges (i which serve as stops tolimit the lateral or swinging movement of the coupler from side to side as the train passes around curves. The socketpiece D is further provided, just back of its socket .D, with a slot or recess (Z8 to receive the holding-lugs f at the rear edge of the capplate F, which fits on top of the rim ()Z of the socket D and is removably secured thereto by bolts- 01, which extend through ears or lugs 03 on'the socket-piece. The removable cap-plate F has a curved or conical lower face f, the same being preferably convex and corresponding to the curved top face I) of the pivot-head B of the coupler.

G G are removable curved or'dished fillerplates, corresponding in form to the socket D in the socket-piece D and their curvature corresponding to and fitting the curved faces 2) 6 of the pivot-head B and the curved bottom face d of the socket D in the socketpiece D.

By reason of the curvature or dish shape of the top and bottom faces 66 of the pivothead and of the bottom face d of the socket D and of the under face f of the cap-piece F in connection with the curved or dished filler-plates G Gr the pivot-head B of the coupler is very securely anchored or held in the socket-piece, while permitted to turn or swing freely from side to side. By placing one or more of the curved or dished removable fillerplates Gr above or below the coupler, as may be required, the coupler may be adjusted to the proper level or height, and thus compensate for the wear of the locomotive-tires or the sagging of the springs or other causes tending to vary the height of the coupler. When the pivot-head B or its socket D becomes so worn that thereis too much play, the pivot-head B may be enlarged by simply heating the same and swaging it out to a larger external diameter.

My invention is an improvement upon the locomotive or tender coupler shown and described in application, Serial No. 233,638, of John H. Lewis and Louis G. Kunzer, filed November 21, 19041, and I do not claim the invention forming the subject of said application. In the coupler of said Lewis and Kunzer application the pivot-head of the coupler has flat upper and lower faces and the socket-piece and cap-piece have corresponding flat meeting faces, and consequently the upper and lower faces of the pivot-head do not have any anchoring or holding function. In my improvement the upper and lower faces of the pivot-head of the coupler and the corresponding meeting faces of the socket-piece and cap-piece exert an anchoring or holding function by reason of their curved, dished, or non-flat shape in respect to each other.

To increase the holding functionof the removable cap-plate F, I provide the same with one or more shoulders or lugs f, which engage the socket-piece D, the socket-piece being preferably provided with notches d to receive the holding lugs or projections f of the cap-piece.

I claim "1. A coupler for locomotives or tenders having a shank furnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head having curved or non-flat upper and lower faces in combination with a socket piece furnished with a cylindrical socket having acurved or non-flat bottom face, and receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler, and a cap-plate removably secured to said socket-piece above the pivothead of the coupler and having a curved or non-fiat lower face corresponding to the curved or non-flat upper face of the pivot-head of the coupler, substantially asspecified.

2. A coupler for locomotives or tenders having a shankfurnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head having curved or non-flat upper and lower faces in combination with a socket piece furnished with a cylindrical socket having a curved or non-flat bottom face, and receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler, and a cap-plate removably secured to said socket-piece above the pivothead of the coupler and having a curved or non-fiat lower face corresponding to the curved or non-fiat upper face of the pivot-head of the coupler, and a removable curved or non-flat filler-plate fitting in the socket of the socketpiece to adjust the height of the coupler, substantially as specified.

3. A coupler for locomotives or tenders havinga shank furnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head having-curved or non-flat upper and lower faces in combination with a socket piece furnished with a cylindrical socket having a curved or non-flat bottom face and. receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler, and a cap-plate removably secured to said socket-piece above the pivothead of the coupler and having a curved or non-flat lower face corresponding to the curved or non-fiat upper face of the pivot-head of the coupler and a plurality of removable curved or non-flat filler-plates fitting in thesocket of 'the socket-piece to adjust the height of the coupler, substantially as specified.

Q. A coupler for locomotives or tenders having a shank furnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head having a curved or non-flat lower face in combination with a socket-piece furnished with a cylindrical socket, having a curved or non-flat bottom face receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler and provided with shoulders or stops to limit the lateral or swinging movement of the coupler, and a cap plate removably secured to said socket-piece above the pivot-head of the coupler, substantially as specified.

5. A coupler for locomotives or tenders having ashank furnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head, having a curved or non-flat upper face, in combination with a socket-piece having a cylindrical socket receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler, and a capplate removably secured to said socket-piece above the pivot-head of the coupler, and having a curved or non-fiat face corresponding to the curved or non-fiat upper face of the pivothead of the coupler, substantially as specified.

6. A coupler forlocomotives or tenders having a shank furnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head having curved or non-flat upper and lower faces in combination with a socket-piece furnished with a cylindrical socket having a curved or non-flat bottom face,

. and receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler, and a cap-plate removably secured to said socket-piece above the pivot-head of the coupler and having a curved or non-flat lower face corresponding to the curved or non-flat upper face of the pivot-head of the coupler, said removable cap-plate having a holding shoulder or lug engaging said socket-piece, substantially as specified.

7. A coupler for locomotives or tenders havinga shank furnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head having curved or non-flat up per and lower faces in combination with a socketpiece furnished with a cylindrical socket having a curved or non-flat bottom faceand receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler, and a cap-plate removably secured to said socket-piece above the pivothead of the coupler and having a curved or non-flat lower face corresponding to the curved or non-flat upper face of the pivot-head of the coupler and a plurality of removable curved or non-fiat filler-plates fitting in the socket of the socket-piece to adjust theheight of the coupler, said removable cap-plate having a holding shoulder or lug engaging said socketpiece, substantially as specified.

8.- A coupler for locomotives or tenders having a shank furnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head having a curved or not-fiat lower face in combination with a socket-piece furnished with a cylindrical socket, having a curved or non-flat bottom face receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler and provided with shoulders or stops to limit the lateral or swinging movement of the coupler, and

a cap-plate removably secured to said socketpiece above the pivot-head of the coupler, said removable cap-plate having a holding shoulder or lug engaging said socket-piece, substantially as specified.

9.- A coupler for locomotives or tenders having a shank furnished with an integral cylindrical pivot-head, in combination with a socket-piece having a cylindrical socket receiving and fitting said pivot-head of the coupler, and a cap-plate removably secured to said socket-piece above the pivot-head of the coupler, and havinga curved or non-fiat face corresponding to the curved or non-flat upper face of the pivot-head of the coupler, said removable cap-plate having ahololing shoulder or lug engaging said socket-piece, substantially as specified.

JAMES MUNTON.

Witnesses:

H. M. MUNDAY, PEARL ABRAMs. 

